Magnitude 4.4 earthquake hits east of Los Angeles: USGS

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck east of Los Angeles on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, with no reports of major damage or injuries.

The quake was shallow at only 3.5 miles (5 km) below the earth’s surface and was centered two miles northwest of Devore, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, with smaller aftershocks following shortly afterwards, according to the USGS.

Quakes are frequent in the area that lies near the intersection of the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults but the quake startled some residents nevertheless, local media said.

“It was a good shaker,” Toni Cousino, a waitress at a local diner, told the San Bernardino County Sun.

The 810-mile San Andreas fault runs roughly north-south through California.

Nine earthquakes above magnitude 4 have hit the region over the past decade, the USGS said.

(Reporting by Sandra Maler in Washington and Victoria Cavaliere in Los Angeles; Editing by Louise Ireland)